Load-dumping pallet



April 26 1949 J. w. GIBLER 2,468,055

' L AD Filed NOV. 28, 1945 April 26,1949. J. w. GIBLER 2,468,055

LOAD DUMPING PALLT Filed Nov. 2s, 1945 A 4 sheets-sheet 2 I i l 2.3 o y i Il 24 l l c I v.. 24( I f *I l Y.lullilmlmllmum I kl" y .lll-:n: In Irlll` In I 37 i .n l y I y IN VEN TOR.

yL JZHY Gibier April 26, 1949. w, G|BLER 2,468,055

LOAD DUMPING PALLET Filed Nov. 28, 1945, 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 E? llmlilllllll Y sgi-Tonnav April 26, 1949- .J. w.A GIBLER 2,468,055

- LOAD DUMPING BALLET Filed Nov. 28,. 1945 4 sheets-sheet 4 INVENTOR.

BTTORNEY Patented Apr. 26, 1949 y 2,468,055 LOAD-DUMPING PALLET y John W. Gibier, United States Army, Mattoon, Ill. Application November 28, 1945, Serial No. 631,458 8 Claims. (Cl. 214-84) (Granted under the act of March 3,l 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; I370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented,-

may be manufactured andused by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The invention pertains to a new type of pallet having automatic loading and unloading means and adapted to be carried by a forklift truck as a temporary attachment.

It is an object of the invention to provide a pallet of the same length and breadth as the conventional pallet and provided with automatic means for picking up a load from a jig and unloading the load at any desired point either on a floor or in stacks or tiers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pallet which is temporarily fastened on the fork of a conventional forklift truck and which is B, and picking up a load of cartons C, from a special jig D, which is designed to support a load of cartons on an ordinary pallet E, in a slightly elevated position for transfer to the pallet A.

The pallet Acomprises a framework composed of transverse elements I0, secured to longitu-4 dinal elements II and I2 bymeans of angle platesl I3 or other appropriate securing means. Two longitudinal members yI I extend beneath the transverse elements II) on each side, and serve to support the axles I4 of idler rollers I5 and drive rollers I6 carrying traction belts 34. The

members I0 are suitably spaced to allow the rollers to lie between them. On the upper surface of the framework are three pairs of longitudinal angle members I8, I9, and 20, each having one provided with traction-operated means for loadl ing and unloading the pallet.

It is a further object of the-invention to provide a new type of platform or pallet adapted to be carried by a lift truck and having endless belts forming -a` load-supporting surface and having traction means for rotating said belts to load and i unload the pallet when the lower surface of the pallet is resting on a supporting surface duringmovement of the truck.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the pallet mounted on a forklift truck and picking up a. load of boxes from a jig;

Figure 2 is a perspective view ofthe pallet carried by a forklift truck;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the pallet as car-V ried by a forklift truck;

Figure 4 is a side elevationalview of the pallet as shown in Figure 3; y Y Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the pallet;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the forward invention mounted on the fork of a lift truck broken away flange secured to the transverse members IIl andv f carrying three sets of idler rollers ZI, 22, and 23.

Each set of idler rollers carries a belt 24 forming y n.

part of the supporting surface of the pallet. A single roller 25 is carried at the forward end of each set of angle members I8, I9, and 2l), and at a lower level, so that the space over the forward power roller I6 is filled and the load is guided onto the belts 24.

The lower supporting members II carry power rollers I6 adjacent their ends and idler rollers I5 spaced between. The power rollers I6 as shown more particularly in Figure 9 comprisev two beltcarrying sections 26 having a sprocket section 21 therebetween. The bearing and sprocket sections are secured to a sleeve 2B and mounted by means of ball bearings 29 on the axle 30, the axle being supported on studs 3l' passing through the side members II. The idler rollers I5 may be formed from a single block provided with a groove to receive the sprocket chain 32 or may be constructed similarly to` the power rollers I6. A sprocket chain32 is trained around the power rollers i6 and is guided on the idler rollers I5. The chain 32 is provided with spacers 33 secured to certain of the sprocket chain links to guide the V chain with relation to the traction belt 34, which is trained around the power rollers I6 and idler rollers I5.

The two outer load-bearing belts 24 trained around the idler rollers 2| and 23 carried on the upper longitudinal angle members I8 and 20 are operated by their corresponding traction belts 34. A transverse angle' member 35 is secured to` the three load-bearing belts 24 and serves both of pallet A, always remaining in the upper run of the traction belt 34 and the lower run of the corresponding load-bearing belt 24.

The pallet A is adapted to`be carried on the fork 31 of a conventional forklift truck B and to be secured thereto by suitable means such as members forming an eye 38 and a flexible tying element '33. The forklift truck B is operated to pick up, carry and transfer loads while the pallet A remains mounted on the fork 31.

Since the pallet Als somewhat thicker than the ordinary wooden pallet E, which is not provided with load-transferring means, it is necessary to provide a special jig D to support a conventional pallet E so that its load may be transferred to the dumping pallet A described herein. The jig D manual handling of the cartons The load-dumping pallet is quickly adapted to and can be used with any conventional forklift truck, as the spacing of the traction belts 34 is such as to receive the forks 31 between them. The unobstructed space under the dumping pallet makes it possible received between-the-forks 31 of the truck.

comprises a frame 40 having a load-supportingA Y conveyor 4i narrower than the space between the forks 31 of a lift truck. The conveyor 4I is supported in slightly raised position on `the rectangular frame 40, which is provided with uprights 42 at opposite sides carrying a bar 43 between them at an elevation slightly above the height of a conventional pallet E resting on the conveyor 4I.

When it is desired to transfer a load from'a conventional pallet E to load-transferring pallet A, the pallet E with its load of cartons Cis placed on the conveyor 4I of the special jig D. The operator of the lift truck B which is equipped with the self-dumping pallet A approaches the loaded pallet E squarely, and pushes against the pallet as shown in Figure 1. The pallet E is moved from beneath its load under the transverse bar 43 of the jig, which acts as a stop for the cartons C, and the load is transferred to the pallet A at the same time. The cartons C engaging the pusher bar of the pallet A tend to rotate the belts '24 in a direction to move the cartons onto the pallet, while at the same time the engagement of the traction belts 34 with the transverse members of the rectangular frame of the jig D also propels the upper load-bearing surfaces of the belts 24 rearwardly.

When the load is entirely transferred to the dumping pallet A, it can be elevated by the lift truck and carried to any desired location where it can be unloaded either on the floor or on one of the upper levels of a stack or tier` To unload the cartons, the pallet A is lowered until its traction belts 34 come in contact with either the floor or the cartons of the stack or tier. The lift truck B is backed away, whereupon the traction belts 34 are operated by their frictional contact with the floor or the stacked cartons and drive the load-carrying belts or conveyors 2|, 22, and 23 forwardly to cause the stack of cartons C to remain in place while the pallet A is withdrawn. When cartons are stacked without the interposed pallets E, as in railway cars or in storage for long periods, the piles are usually unloaded either against a wall or against a stack of cartons previously erected, and the contact of the stack being unloaded with such wall or pile of cartons maintains the vertical arrangement of the stack as the -cartons drop off the pallet A onto the floor or lower tier of cartons.

Previously, when cartons were tobe stacked without interposed wooden pallets E, it was necessary to perform the final unloading operation from the pallet or forklift truck manually. By means of my load-dumping pallet it is possible to deposit the loaded pallet of the old conventional type on the special jig and to pickup and transfer the load on -my new dumping palletwithout other uses will be found for the load dumpingV pallet in ordinary warehouse activities, and such modifications of the load-dumping pallet as will occur in adapting the pallet to additional uses are considered part of my invention as described in the rfollowing claims. palletl is to be used for unloading on fiat surfaces, such as floors, where the traction belts 34 remain in contact with the floor throughout their extent, it is possible to omit the sprocket and drive pulleys, since sufficient friction to operate the load-supporting belts is provided in such cases. The pallet can also be used to transfer furniture, machinery, and other articles, in such cases avoiding the use of cranes or other special pick-up mechanism.

Having thus described my inventiony what I claim is:

1. A load-supporting pallet comprising a frame and upper and lower endless belts-corresponding pairs of said upper and lower belts being secured together along a transverse line, said lower belts adapted to engage a oor or the like.

2. A load-supporting pallet having a plurality of longitudinal endless load-carrying belts on its upper surface and having a pair of longitudinal traction belts at the outer edges of its lower surface, said traction belts being operatively connected to a pair of said load-supporting belts and the lower central portion of the pallet being unobstructed to receive-the fork of a forklift truck.

3. An attachment for a forklift truck comprising a pallet having longitudinal traction means adapted to straddle the fork of the lift truck and to be brought into engagement with a floor or the like, and longitudinally movable load-support-- being adapted to be brought into engagement with a, floor o r the like.

5. A pallet cocmprising a frame, upper and lower sets of rollers mounted thereon, and upper and lower endless belts mounted on said sets of rollers with their adjacent runs in contact, said adjacent runs being secured together along a transverse line, and said upper belt being provided with a transversely extending pusher, and said lower belt adapted to be brought into engagemen with a floor or the like.

6. A pallet comprising a frame carrying three longitudinally extending load-supporting conveyors and two traction belts, the traction belts being located below the outer two conveyors and being connected thereto, the central conveyor being secured to the outer conveyors for operation and the space beneath tne central conveyor being unobstructed to receive the forks of a forklift truck.

7. In combination, a fork-lift truck and a pallet secured to the fork thereof, said pallet including a conveyor in its upper portion and traction means in its lower portion for operating the conveyor For example, when the on the lower portion of the pallet and adapted lto be brought into engagement with a floor or the like, and a longitudinally-extending conveyor on the upper portion of Athe pallet and operatively connected to the longitudinally-extending traction means.

JOHN W. GIBLER..

-EEFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Ille of this patent:

UNITED'STATES PATENTS ,l Number Name Date 1,072,571 aannam sept. e, 41913 1,093,444 Lewis et al Apr, 14, 1914 Number Number Name Date Beisner Feb. 12, 1918 Wallstrom Aug. 15, 1922 Smith Dec. 16, 1924 Streeter Oct. 6, 1925 Cochran May 10, 1927v Young May 24, 1927 Sekulski Mar. 15, 1932 Gfrorer Feb. 1, 1933 Stibbs Apr. 11, 1933 Coppinger Oct. 31, 1933 West etal 1 Aug. 10, 1937 Douglas et al. May 31, 1938 Alfonte 1 Nov. 6, 1945 Jessen Dec. 3, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Apr. 4, 1939 Germany Feb. 2, 1929 

